2017-2018 in Review

City of Port Aransas - Preserving History, Protecting Habitat and Promoting harmony with Nature

Texas Ornithological Society, $9500

Lynne & Jack Rosser, $300

Lynne Rosser, $300

Nancy Holt Allman, $300

Gary & Sally Dekok, $200

Terry Jones, $150

Edward & Eleanor Kapustka, $150

Reynold & Reynolds memory of Miles Merwin, $150

Susan & Edward Westfall, $100

Blake & Elizabeth Forbes, $100

Gerald & Bernice Geenen, $100

Eric Vormelker & Lisa Schneider, $100

Nancy & Larry Leaton, $100

Susan E. Woods, $50

Native Dave Inc.In Kind Trees

Larry WatsonIn Kind Rebuild Texas Fund Grant Application

Blueline Rental In Kind Scissor Lift for Birding Classic Big Sit

Hank ArnoldIn Kind Drone Photography for Debris and Invasive Monitoring

Port Aransas Garden ClubAdopt-A-Spot, Birding Center

Alexis Granite DesignIn Kind Counter & Installation

Cheryl Johnson, $200 &Outburst AdvertisingIn Kind Recovery Plan Signs

Darrell W CochranIn Kind Water Drip

AEP TexasIn Kind Tree Relocation

Beau HardigreeIn Kind Grant Writing/Review

Jim LagoIn Kind Radio Publicity

Cameron Perry, HDRIn Kind Engineering Advice

Alicia Walker, ARKEndangered Species Monitoring

The Recreation Foundation of Port Aransas - a 501c3 dedicated to supporting the Preserve

*Special thanks to those who purchased raffle tickets & t-shirts, $2,811 was raised through these fundraising efforts

Coastal Bend Audubon Society, $2500

Bastrop County Audubon Society, $1600

Jerry & Glenda Livingston, $1000

Port Aransas Wildlife, $1200

West Texas Avian Research, Inc., $500

Cheryl Johnson, $200

Tito’s Handmade Vodka, $1500

Gary & Denise Luker, $200

Frank Guevara, $200

Karen Dusty Ayala, $100

Lynn Tinnin, $100

Meredith K Morrill, $100

Larry Watson, $100

Caroline Scott, $250

We’d like to offer a special thank you to the Port Aransas Chamber of Commerce & Tourist Bureau and New Day Port A Foundation who helped coordinate volunteers, solicit donations and offer emotional support and guidance through the recovery. Without the hard work of Sheri Johnson, Jeff Hentz, Joan Garland and their team members the Preserve would not be in the shape it is.

City records indicate that 237 individuals volunteers helped with storm recovery from August 2017 - April 2018. They worked 1,549 hours, at an estimated value of $38,248!*

*(rate based on Independent Sector Releases New Value of Volunteer Time of $24.69 Per Hour)

Delia Swanner, $350

Lane & Charlotte Mitchell

Patricia Bowman, In Kind Donation Quilt*

Rally Dillahunty, In Kind T-Shirts & Carpentry

Thank You Donors

Tommi Abbott Sofia Aguilar Chris Aguilar Milo Alex Dustin Alumbaugh Carne Andrew Priscilla Arredondo David Ayers Hank Arnold Anthony Banks Danielle Barnford Jacob Beach Hector Beltran Roger Bennett Will Boren Vernon Bracey Gladys Brinks Dashika Brown Selena Brown Steve Brown Ted Bryan Alec Burkhart Mary Burkhart Duane Burton Rebekah Burton Ted Byrd Yiling Cao Will Carr Michelle Carvajal Lidia Castro Jerry Certez Doug Christiansen Alnea Comier Nathan Conele Ethan Conquared John Contreras Jordan Cooke Brian Cormier AJ Coward Graham Coward Rachel Coward Richard Coward Maira Cruz Suhas Dara Charlie Davidson Angelina Davilla Javier Davilla Jake Davis Ray Dillahunty Megan Dominique

Individual Volunteers - From near and far, all coming together to help the Preserve. Steven Douglass Chad Duases Kelly Dumny Doward Dykstra Shirley Dykstra Scott Eastman Karen Easton Jill Eisenberg Jonathan Eisenberg David Evert Roy Evette James Faubion Deanna Ferrante Will Fielder Julie Findley Edwin Flan Joaquin Flores Denise Flores Steven Flores Isaac Flores Gabriella Flores Edward Foss Brian Foss Alec Foss Ben Fox Cindy Frank Roy Frette Brian Frion Lauren Gaggini Clint Galloway Elizandro Garcia C.C. GarciaNancy GawrylashNolan GepanagaEdward GilbertRebecca GiuntoliSharon GloyerKat GonzalezKurt GonzalezJoshua GoodeNick GrantJohn GrantBrian GrantO.G. GremelCindy GrothSean GrothAndrea HabeckMandalena HallWes Harkey

Wesley Harrey Isaiah Harris Ashley Haynes Janie Hernandez Micah Hillebrenner Heather Hillebrenner Michelle Hinojosa Leslie Hoekstra Joan Holt Scott Holt Ben Hranicky Crystal Hughes Kaelie Jager Matthew Janis Brita Jenssen Rae Johnson Alex Kan Joe Keller Marie Kieber-Emmons Scott Kim Helen Kines Maggie Knoup Craig Kondoff Jue Korhonen Keith Krenz Mari Krenz Carol Krepel Mark Kroen Ken Landry Ron Langheler Bobbie Lanning Michelle LaRocco Ken Laundry Dave Lee Scott Lerberg Xiaofei Li Julie Lie Andrew Lopez Kelle Loughlin Eli Luchembe Hilman Mae Jim Marsh Rosario Martinez Virginia Martinez Matthew McCarty Bill McCutchen Dan McKeen Dan McLendon Andrew Medley

Jessica Mendoza Blake Mooney Richard Moreau Dolores Nangle William Nichols Rod Oberhaus Jackie Oleson Eric Oleson Stephan Olsen Cody Ortega Reta Pearson Sylvia Percy Christian Peregrin Nick Peret Rydia Perez Josh Perez Jona Perez Judy Perkins Donna Phillips Karie Pias Jonathan Pitchford Dave Polasek Oscar Preciado Else Preciado Sarah Price Jason Pugh Henry Ramirez Christoph Ranaldes Kenny Raposa Pat Reilly Kimberly Reinholz Scott Reynolds Brittany Ridolfi Cory Riley Filiberto Rivera James Roaclt Rhonda Robinson Paul Robinson Matt Rogers Angie Rosales Denbow Ryan Richard Safford Lee Samuel Angel Sanchez Cales Sandoval M.L. SaneMatt SchneiderColin SerkowskiLisa Shearer

John Shreves Donald Smith Vince Smith Kim Smith Gavin Smith Ron Sperman Anne Sperman Steve Steinert John Stevens Selena Stewart Chrysta Stuart Mary Sutherland Katie Swanson V. SydneySonny SzejbachChris SzejbachRobbie ThomasNick ThomasCurtis TiffanyChad TiffanyBryan TilleyRick TinninSammie TiptonStormie TiptonMatt TrentJohann VanAhlad VasaLuis VillarrealWes VillarrealVivian VuNicole WallaceCoowe WalkerEvana WangTracy WeatherallRobin WeberFrank WiedemannFrank WestmannElizabeth WiltonJerry WoodallXiaoxi XuJohn YarbroughDustin YelvingtonDavid YoungBryan YoungAnn ZadraJeff ZadraVanessa ZapataAthea ZepedaRobert Zetelski

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Group Volunteers Manual labor in the heat, humidity and mosquitoes.American Conservation Experience (ACE)

Blackbeard’s Woodworks Disaster Relief

Calvary Chapel

Cannon McAdoo & Team

Cheniere Energy, Inc.

Cleburne, Fort Worth & Abilene Firefighters

Eastside Preparatory School

Golden Key, Texas A&M Corpus Christi

H2 Enterprises & Duraroot

Keep Port Aransas Beautiful

National Estuarine Research Reserve System

Native Dave Inc.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Palmilla Beach Golf Club

Port Royal Ocean Resort & Conference Center

Recreational Vehicle Disaster Corps

Sisters on the Fly - Disaster Corp

Spurs Sports & Entertainment, AT&T Center

Texas A&M Kingsville

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

University of Texas at Austin Sustainability Class

Advisory Board Members Time and efforts for planning and recovery.Place 1: Rae Mooney

Place 2: Jace Tunnell

Place 3: Katie Swanson

Place 4: Cameron Pratt

Place 5: Rick Tinnin, Vice-Chair

Place 6: Sonia Najara

Place 7: Scott Holt, Chair

City CouncilMayor: Charles Bujan

Place 1: Wendy Moore

Place 2: Beverly Bolner

Place 3: Beth Owens

Place 4: Bruce Clark

Place 5: Charles Crawford, Jr.

Place 6: Joan Holt

Parks & Recreation Director David Hyde, guided staff through rebuilding with experience and patience by “tackling the smallest jobs first.” A true coach in his field.

Jackie Romeyn, Preserve Groundskeeper, did an excellent job stepping up to supervise, instruct and supply volunteers, track volunteer data and all while maintaining the Preserve grounds.

Colleen Simpson, Preserve Manager, secured grant funding, prioritized management decisions and guided the recovery process.  

Pat McKeever, Doug Turner and Public Works Crew, David Lown and Parks and Recreation Grounds Crew, Jared Mathews and Lifeguards, for all of their help moving, clearing, hauling throughout the entire recovery. Dave Parsons, Rick Adams and Darla Honea for leadership throughout the recovery.

Research American Bird Conservancy & Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Coastal Bird Program monitor Wilson’s Plovers (WIPL), Snowy Plovers (SNPL) and Least Terns nesting in the mudflats of Charlie’s Pasture.

This year they banded 18 adult snowy plovers, 5 snowy plover chicks, 9 Wilson’s plover adults and 4 Wilson’s plover chicks.

See the tables here to see how this year’s data compares to the last five years.

Staff

Wilson's Plover Nests Port AransasYear 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Hatched 3 5 1 1 3 13Depredated 6 12 3 2 6 0

Washout 1 3 3 4 11 0Abandoned 0 0 1 1 1 0

Unknown 1 1 1 7 8 3Other Failure 0 0 0 1 0 0Total Nests 11 20 9 16 29 16

Snowy Plover Nests Port AransasYear 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Hatched 4 4 1 4 4 10Depredated 4 2 4 0 8 6

Washout 0 1 2 5 19 8Abandoned 2 0 0 1 0 3

Unknown 0 0 2 14 5 3Other Failure 3 1 0 0 0 1Total Nests 13 8 9 24 36 31

Citizen Science Visitors to the Nature Preserve System can record their observations on the mobile apps eBird and iNaturalist. Using technology to record observations is helpful in monitoring invasive species, recording new or unique sightings and creating a long term dataset for population monitoring.

Invasive Species Management The Texas Gulf Coast Cooperative Weed Management Area supports the removal of the Invasive Brazilian Peppertree within the Nature Preserve. Volunteers and contract labor treated approximately 55 acres this year. Funding for this work was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program, the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and other local partners.

OutreachTexas State Aquarium SeaCamp - Biodiversity Lessons - 60 students

UT Summer Science - Nature Walks - 48 students

Audubon Christmas Bird Count - 145 species recorded

TPWD Great Texas Birding Classic, Big Sit - 111 species recorded

Bird Walks - 126 participants

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Looking Forward Nature Preserve staff is continuously working to aid in the recovery of habitat damaged by Hurricane Harvey and restore public access via boardwalk and trails.

Primary Objectives for 2018-2019 Include:

• Removing storm debris and damaged boardwalk from Nature Preserve.

• Removing Brazilian Peppertrees from shoreline between Birding Center and Nature Preserve.

• Constructing a new Boardwalk and Observation Tower at Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center that will connect to the Nature Preserve Trails from Hwy 361.

• Expanding preserved land at the Joan & Scott Holt Paradise Pond, planting native vegetation and connecting the area to the Community Park via trail (funding pending).

• Designings the repair of bulkhead, boardwalks and trails in Nature Preserve

Grant Pending National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund $100,000

U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Coastal Program $20,000

Texas Parks & Wildlife Local Parks Grant $400,000

AEP $35,000

TOTAL: $555,000

Grants Awarded Rebuild Texas Fund $400,000

Texas Parks & Wildlife Recreational Trails Grant $200,000

Stillwater Foundation $50,000

Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program Human Use Workgroup $30,000

Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program Habitat and Living Resources $18,500

Texas Parks & Wildlife Great Texas Birding Classic $5,000

Texas A&M Forest Service $4,000

TOTAL: $707,500

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Street: 106 Cut Off Rd. Port Aransas, TX 78373 Mailing: 710 W Ave A Port Aransas, TX 78373

Phone 361-749-0081 email: csimpson@cityofportaransas.org

web:https://www.cityofportaransas.org/Nature_Preserve.cfm Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/PortANaturePreserves